Our Mission

Mission

The mission of Westchester County Crime Stoppers, Inc., (WCCS) is to assist law enforcement organizations primarily in Westchester and adjoining communities to mitigate and solve crimes.

As a volunteer civilian organization, WCCS is funded by tax-deductible donations from businesses, clubs, associations, and individuals. The critical success factors for this organization and its programs are predicated on the cooperative efforts of concerned citizens, the media, and law enforcement agencies. As such, the goal is to fight crime by overcoming the two key elements that inhibit involvement: fear and apathy.

How it Works

WCCS provides an anonymous toll-free tip line (800-898-8477) to encourage citizens in the community to volunteer vital information helpful to law enforcement agencies to solve crimes. Tips that lead to an arrest and conviction of an individual, based on a designated and advertised case by WCCS, will lead to a reward of up to $2,000. Determination of any award will be made by the Board of Directors. Donations made through fundraising events or directly via our website are the lifeblood of the organization.

Funding for Awards

Donations are the life blood of this entity. As such, among other fund-raising events, we look forward to our 5th Anniversary Dinner, scheduled for

February 5, 2016 @ 7:00 p.m. VIP Country Club in New Rochelle

Our key note speaker is U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, with two other notable award recipients: Westchester Commissioner of Public Safety, George Longworth; and New York Law Enforcement Foundation Chair, Reginald Ward.

We ask that individuals and corporations invest in the safety of Westchester County by attending and, or by supporting these events. Click here to donate.

The Logic of Crime Stoppers

The following three reasons give rise to over 1000 Crime Stoppers organizations, in more than 20 countries around the world. First, when a criminal case is not solved within a reasonable length of time, the investigative leads diminish. The trail becomes cold, evidence becomes unobtainable, and the crime becomes increasingly more difficult to solve. For this reason, most police department files contain many unsolved cases. When this occurs, a method is needed that will re-awaken public interest and will also call upon citizens for help in providing the needed information.

Second, quite often, citizens witness all or part of a crime without being aware of what they have seen. Consequently, they unknowingly possess key information that could aid police in solving the crime. In order for the police to receive this vital information, the citizens must be made aware of the importance of the information they possess. Hence, WCCS, will work with law enforcement to highlight specific crimes that are deemed critical to solve.

Finally, and all too often, citizens do not contact the police with information that could help solve a crime. It may be due to fear - they believe if they reveal their own identity then they would expose themselves or their families to acts of retaliation by the criminal. In most of these instances these citizens will not come forward with information.

We believe the anonymity provided by the Crimes Stoppers' concept, including the prospect of a generous reward, will engage the greater community of Westchester County to get involve thereby making a difference in mitigating and solving crime.